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Zack Wheeler On Track For Late April Return

By | at April 19, 2026 6:04pm CDT

TODAY: Wheeler threw 77 pitches over four innings in today’s outing, recording four strikeouts while allowing four earned runs on six hits and a walk. Wheeler told the Trentonian’s Greg Johnson and other reporters that he feels ready to return to the majors, and felt the cooler and rainy conditions for today’s game contributed to his low-90s velocity.

“I’m a high 90s guy, mid 90s guy, and it’s not there right now. You kind of have to pitch a little bit more when that happens,” Wheeler said.  “You’ve got to move the ball around and you’ve got to hit your spots, you’ve got to fool guys a little bit more than kind of just rearing back and throwing. I think that’s probably going to be the biggest adjustment, if that is still down when I do come back. Like I said before, hopefully this warmer weather allows me to kind of get back to close to where I used to be at least, and hopefully get there throughout the season.”

APRIL 18: Right-hander Zack Wheeler has been on the mend from thoracic outlet surgery since last September, with an early-season return being the goal for the Phillies. That could happen very soon, as Scott Lauber of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Wheeler will make one more rehab start for the Double-A Reading Fightin Phils on Sunday. If all goes well, he could rejoin the major league club next weekend for their series against the Braves.

At the time of the surgery, Wheeler’s recovery was expected to take 6-8 months. A return at the short end of that range would have brought him to the opening week of the season and left no time for a full ramp-up. Given that Wheeler has continued to pitch like an ace into his mid-30s, the Phillies were never going to risk bringing him back too early. That said, his recovery was progressing well overall, and manager Rob Thomson indicated last month that the club expected a return not “too far beyond” Opening Day. Evidently, the 35-year-old has shown enough in his rehab stint to rejoin the big-league rotation by the end of April.

Wheeler made 24 starts last year and was in top form the whole way. He posted a 2.71 ERA in 149 2/3 innings with a career-high 33.3% strikeout rate and just a 5.6% walk rate. That performance was good for 4.0 fWAR, which tied him for 11th among big-league starters despite throwing significantly fewer innings than usual. His dominance was interrupted by an IL stint in August for a right upper extremity blood clot, which led to the discovery of venous TOS and his subsequent season-ending surgery. Venous TOS is the less severe form of the injury, with the Diamondbacks’ Merrill Kelly being the best example of returning to form following surgery.

The Phillies are surely hoping Wheeler can do the same. Their rotation has performed unevenly through their first 19 games to the tune of a 5.55 ERA. While Cristopher Sánchez is dominating as usual and Jesús Luzardo and Andrew Painter are outperforming their surface numbers, Taijuan Walker has struggled badly through four starts. He allowed two earned runs in five innings against Arizona last week but has given up at least four earned runs in his other three starts. Most recently, he allowed seven earned runs on seven hits and three walks in just four innings against the Braves.

Though he’s likely to get one more start, Walker could lose his spot to accommodate Wheeler’s return, according to Matt Gelb of The Athletic. That leaves Walker ticketed for a bullpen role, though he’ll surely get more starts throughout the year in the event of an injury. Walker made 17 relief appearances from 2024-25 with unspectacular results. Given his struggles so far in 2026, he’ll likely be limited to low-leverage spots.

Photo courtesy of Ken Blaze, Imagn Images

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